We have been working with our friend Kurt Elder (@KurtJamesElder) from the City of Lincoln Urban Development Department on analyzing anonmyous GPS data of B-cycle trips recently made available to us. Kurt has generated several images that are both interesting and instructive.

Regional View of All Unique GPS Points

The above map shows all of the places that B-cycles have been in the metro area. As you can see there is a broad range of locations and even a Taco Ride or two in there.

Regional 3-D Usage

On the above map the darker and taller the line, the more frequently a B-cycle has travelled along that segment. You begin to see clusters of activity along the Keystone and around the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. While the heaviest activities are in those areas, there is also activity throughout both Downtown and Aksarben Village as well as trips in between the two.

Aksarben Village 3-D Usage

This map looks north from the south side of Askarben Village. You can see that while B-cycles have been almost everywhere in the area, most people tend to go south on the Keystone.

Downtown 3-D Usage

This map is looking northwest into Downtown. As you can see most B-cycle trips tend to go along the Riverfront or across the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge and east into Council Bluffs. But there is also a lot of place to place trips taken as well.

(OMAHA, NE) Visitors and residents alike are discovering the magic of bike sharing during the College World Series. The opening weekend of the series created the two highest ridership days since the system came to Omaha in 2011 with Sunday surpassing Saturday as the best day in system history. 387 trips have been taken on Omaha B-cycle’s 57 bikes since Friday morning, with 182 rides taken on Saturday and Sunday, and 102 of the rides coming on Sunday alone.

“It is no surprise to us that usage has been up significantly during the College World Series,” said Ben Turner, program director. “Bike sharing provides a tremendously convenient transportation option for Omaha - especially during its busiest events.”

The popular bike-share system is used regularly for both transportation and recreation. Omaha has six kiosks in downtown Omaha and five in Aksarben Village with a total of 57 bicycles.

“The year isn’t even half over and we have already had more rides than all of 2013,” explained Turner. “Last month [May 2014] was the system’s busiest month with 1,105 rides."

To use the system, individuals purchase a daily, monthly, or annual access pass, then pick up a B-cycle at any station and return it to any station, as many times as they choose during the access period. Access pass is activated at the first check-out and riders are allowed unlimited checkouts. Checkouts longer than an hour incur additional charges.